Proving and protecting your identity

Order a birth certificate

New Zealand birth certificates are a record of birth. You can order a birth certificate online, by phone, by post or in person. Prices start at $33 for a standard certificate.

Get a marriage certificate

Your New Zealand marriage or civil union certificate is an official record of your marriage. It costs $33 to get one sent to you.

Get a death certificate

You might need a death certificate if you're administering someone's estate or applying for a funeral grant from Work and Income or ACC.

Access to your birth, marriage and name change records

Birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change records are a public register — anyone can generally request copies of someone's information. You can see who's accessed your records since 2009 or block access to them if your safety is at risk.

• Get a non-disclosure direction

Translating official documents

If you need a document translated into English or another language, you can organise the translation yourself or use the Department of Internal Affairs Translation Service.

• Translating documents into English
• Get a translation to use in another country

Use your NZ documents overseas

When you need to use a New Zealand document in another country, you might be asked to get the document apostilled or authenticated. Some countries call this legalisation.

• Authentication Unit document requirements
• Verify an apostille

What is RealMe?

RealMe is the secure way to prove who you are online. You can use it in two ways: to prove who you are when you’re online, and to log into lots of NZ government sites and services.